Friday, February 9

Of Yankees and Yams

I always thought yams and sweet potatoes were different vegetables. A few years ago a farmer taught me differently. We had just moved to North Carolina from Rhode Island and went to the Raleigh Farmers' Market looking for yams. We saw a farmer with a 3-foot high pile of tubers on his table and a single cardboard sign labled "Sweet Potatoes." So I asked him, "Do you have any yams?" He answered, "They're right 'ere," picking up one of the potatoes from the table in front of us. "No, yams," I said. "Yeah, right 'ere," he repeated, handing me the sweet potato.

I looked over at Jeff thinking: Great, these Southerners don't know the difference between a sweet potato and a yam.

At the same time the farmer looked over at his wife behind the cash box thinking: Great, another Yankee who doesn't know the first thing about potatoes.

He then explained to me that a yam is really just an orange-fleshed sweet potato. Unlike their white-fleshed counterparts, however, these tubers are so sweet that even when eaten plain they taste like sugar has been added to them. In fact, that first week I used them to make a sweet potato pie (from a wonderful recipe from this same farmer). I brought him a piece the next weekend. Who would have known that the simple sweet potato (er, yam) could be the basis of a rapprochement of the North and South.

I tossed this recipe together recently with some fresh citrus and ginger to add a little sparkle. I've also used winter squash or carrots instead of yams.Baked Yams with a Citrus Glaze and Toasted PecansMakes 2 servings.Print recipe only here.

To toast the pecans, pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Layer the pecans on a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes, or until slightly toasty and aromatic.

Bump up the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil (for easy clean-up). Slice a yam in half, lengthwise, and coat the flesh with some cooking spray or a little olive oil; place face down on baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until a fork easily pierces it. Remove from oven, and let cool.

Meanwhile, in a small pan over medium-low heat, whisk the butter, orange juice, and honey until combined. Add the remaining ingredients, and heat for a couple of minutes, until it begins to slightly thicken and bubble up.

Once the yams are cooled, scoop out the cooked flesh, and place it in a bowl. Pour the citrus glaze on top, and mix well. Add toasted pecans.

26 comments:

Ooooh -- honey, ginger, cinnamon and sweet potato -- what could be bad???? I've been trying to eat more sweet potatoes (or are they yams?) lately, as they are so nutritionally powerful. Thanks for the recipe.

oh how wonderfully warm and sweet. i've been in the mood for just this lately! is it cold in CA? seems like it by the way you've been cooking :) thanks for sharing this - the citrus is the perfect marriage for this dish!

Hey FoodBlogga - My office serves free lunch and recently, they have been serving up a lot of this yam...exactly like the one you made...I was confused like you too, because I always think of yam as the white color variety...thanks for explaining. :)

I hate to go against the info of a farmer, but I lived in West Africa for a couple of years, and there really is a difference between yams and sweet potatoes...it's just that we don't have true yams in America. Here we have used the terms "yam" and "sweet potato" interchangeably for the same thing.A real yam has a white flesh and is a lot like a potato but except a little more dense (not a real good description)...I know that I can't prove that I know what I'm talking about, but I just stumbled upon your blog and thought I'd share what I knew...

I'm gonna have to agree with Sandi - sweet potatoes and yams are two different plants, but the names “sweet potato” and “yam” are used interchangeably in the US for the sweet, orange-fleshed tuberous root you used in your recipe. What you're using is really a sweet potato. (Sorry, I work with plants and am a nerd like that.)